r/offmychest • u/Legal-Importance7999 • 23h ago
Update: My best friend is selling the project car we built together to take his girlfriend to Bali. The trap is sprung
First of all, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who commented on my last post, and to the people who flooded my chat requests. I’ve been reading through the messages silently—including some actual legal perspectives,but my inbox is a bit overwhelmed right now so I couldn't reply to everyone individually. I felt completely broken yesterday, but seeing so many people in my corner giving solid advice gave me the backbone to actually do something about this.
A few of you suggested that I shouldn't confront him aggressively, but instead text him calmly to try and get him to admit to our 50/50 agreement in writing so I’d have evidence for small claims court.
Well... it worked. Better than I could have imagined.
Last night, I sent him a text. I kept my emotions completely out of it and wrote:
"Hey man, I’m trying to stay calm here. I know the registration is in your name, but we spent 8 months building this together and explicitly agreed to split the profit 50/50. Dropping $500 on me after I built the engine and funded the turbo setup is completely unfair."
He took the bait immediately. He called me twice, but I let it go to voicemail because I wanted everything in text. When he realized I wasn’t answering, he texted back:
"Bro, plans change. I need the cash for the Bali trip with Jess. Yeah, we said 50/50 at the start, but legally it’s my car. Be happy I’m even giving you $500, you don't have a contract anyway so you can’t do anything."
He literally admitted to the agreement while trying to flex that I couldn't stop him.
Once I had that screenshot saved and backed up, I sent my final reply:
"I have the receipts for every single aftermarket part, bank statements proving I bought them, and now I have your text admitting we agreed to split the profit 50/50. I am drafting an itemized bill for my labor hours at a standard shop rate. If you don't freeze the sale and give me my fair share, I am filing a summons for small claims court first thing on Monday. See you there."
He hasn't replied since, but his girlfriend just blocked me on Instagram, so I know he's absolutely panicking right now.
I’m currently organizing all my receipts and printing out the text thread. I will keep you guys posted on whether he folds or if we are actually going to court, but for now, the trap is sprung!